History 1 the confederation period and founding era (1770-1789)

State Governments (1776–1780)

Following independence, former colonies drafted state constitutions to establish popular sovereignty, executive restrictions, and legislative dominance. Significant because they served as the laboratories of republicanism, shifting political power from a centralized monarchy to local, citizen-based authority

Articles of Confederation (Drafted 1777, Ratified 1781):

America's first national constitution; created a weak central government with no executive branch or taxing power.

Land Ordinances (1784, 1785, 1787):

Acts governing the survey, sale, and political integration of the Northwest Territory; the Northwest Ordinance (1787) explicitly banned slavery in the region. Focused on organizing and selling Native lands in the Ohio country - a source of revenue for the gov’

Shays Rebellion (1786–1787):

Uprising of indebted western Massachusetts farmers against tax foreclosures; Daniel Shay and the “Shaysites” started rebel by blocking courthouses. Later arrested by Lincoln's military and sentenced to death. The rebellion would go on to create a national debate and expose the weakness of the federal government under the Articles of Confederation

James Madison

no plan on changing the constitution at the convention and completed two research projects which would eventually be called the Virginia Plan which challenged traditional political theory—which held that a republic had to be small and local— three-branch national government. Believed that it was possible to create an extended republic to encompass a diversity of people, climates, and customs. holding the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. He drafted and guided the Bill of Rights through Congress in 1791.

Constitutional Convention (May–September 1787)

he biggest issue that needed to be solved was the federal government inability to levy taxes but that meant that paying back the debt from the revolutionary war fell on the states. Everyone agreed that the articles of confederation failed but could not agree moving forward. Proposed a government unlike any other, combining elements copied from ancient republics and English political tradition but making some limited democratic innovations—all while trying to maintain a delicate balance between national and state sovereignty. It was a complicated and highly controversial scheme.

Slavery and the Constitution (1787)

Protected by the Constitution. Compromises embedded in the Constitution to appease Southern states, including the Three-Fifths Clause (mainly districts with many enslaved people so white voters had extra influence) , the Fugitive Slave Clause, and a 20-year protection of the international slave trade.

Ratification Debates: Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists (1787–1788)

Federalists supported the new Constitution, while Anti-Federalists opposed it, critiquing the strong central executive, lack of local control, and absence of a bill of rights. July 1788, a majority had ratified the Constitution. 1793, Anti-Federalists would be essentially meaningless

Federalist Papers (1787–1788)

Series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay urging ratification of the Constitution.

Bill of Rights (Passed 1789, Ratified 1791):

The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, drafted by James Madison to safeguard individual liberties and calm Anti-Federalist fears. Women still did not have a guarantee voice in government and men with significant property could vote

Alexander Hamilton’s Financial Plan (1790–1791):

Program involving federal assumption of state debts, protective tariffs, taxes (lead to the Whiskey Rebellion) and the creation of a national bank to establish economic stability. Unfairness to the southern states because States like Virginia and Maryland had already paid off most of their wartime debts. They argued that federal assumption unfairly forced them to bail out Northern states (like Massachusetts) that still held large debts.

Bank of the United States (Chartered 1791):

Central bank proposed by Hamilton; sparked intense constitutional debate over broad vs. strict interpretation of federal power.

Disestablishment (1790s–1833)

The gradual repeal of state-sponsored churches across the U.S., ending tax support for specific denominations and establishing freedom of worship. Americans continued to struggle with defining the boundaries of religious freedom and what it meant for the government not to "establish" a religion.

French Revolution & U.S. Views (Begins 1789; main U.S. debate 1793–1799):

Deeply divided Americans; Democratic-Republicans celebrated the anti-monarchical uprising, while Federalists condemned its radical violence.

Federalist vs. Democratic-Republican Parties (Formed early 1790s):

First party system. Federalists (Hamilton/Adams) favored strong federal power, commerce, and Britain; Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson/Madison) supported states' rights, agrarianism, and France.

Whiskey Rebellion (1791-1794):

Pennsylvania farmers protested Hamilton’s excise tax on whiskey; Washington led federal troops to quell it, demonstrating central authority. Farmers rebelled similar to shays rebellion with robbing, tarring, and feathering

Jay’s Treaty (1794):

Treaty with Great Britain that averted war and resolved leftover Revolutionary War issues, but angered pro-French Republicans who saw it as a submission to British power.

John Adams’s Presidency (1797–1801):

Marked by foreign policy crises with France (XYZ Affair) and domestic political conflict over civil liberties.

Alien and Sedition Acts (1798):

Laws passed by Federalists targeting immigrants and making it a crime to publish "false, scandalous, and malicious" writing against the government. Allowed the federal government to deport foreign nationals, or “aliens,” who seemed to pose a national security threat.

Kentucky and Virginia Resolves (1798–1799):

Political statements written secretly by Jefferson and Madison arguing that states had the right to declare unconstitutional federal laws null and void.

Election of 1800 ("Revolution of 1800"):

Peaceful transfer of power from Federalists to Democratic-Republicans following Thomas Jefferson’s victory over John Adams.

Gradual Emancipation (Beginning 1780):

Northern states (starting with Pennsylvania in 1780) passed laws slowly phasing out slavery by freeing children born to enslaved mothers once they reached adulthood.

Racial Thought in the Enlightenment (1770s–1790s):

An intellectual movement where thinkers like Thomas Jefferson attempted to use Enlightenment "science" to categorize human races, often reinforcing white supremacy despite revolutionary rhetoric of equality.

Haitian Revolution (1791–1804)

Successful anti-slavery and anti-colonial insurrection led by enslaved Africans in Saint-Domingue; it struck terror into Southern enslavers and inspired Black Americans.

Gabriel’s Rebellion (1800):

A planned, large-scale revolt by enslaved blacksmith Gabriel Prosser near Richmond, Virginia; betrayed before it could launch, leading to mass executions and harsher slave codes.

Notes on the State of Virginia (Published 1785):

Written by Thomas Jefferson; combined geography and political philosophy while outlining his explicit views on racial differences and agrarian democracy.

Republican Motherhood (Late 1700s):

Post-Revolutionary ideology claiming women played a vital civic role by raising virtuous, educated sons to serve as citizens in the new republic.

Sally Hemings (Relationship begins late 1780s):

Enslaved woman owned by Thomas Jefferson with whom he engaged in a decades-long relationship, fathering six children.

Thomas Jefferson’s Presidency / Jeffersonian Republicanism (1801–1809):

Era emphasizing limited federal government, reduced national debt, agrarian ideology, and strict constitutional interpretation (though stretched in practice)

Embargo of 1807:

Jefferson’s policy halting all foreign trade to force Britain and France to respect American neutrality; devastated the American economy, particularly in New England.

United Indian Nations & Resistance (1780s–1790s):

Indigenous confederacies in the Old Northwest resisted U.S. encroachment on their lands following the Revolutionary War.

Treaty and Annuity System (1790s–1810s):

Federal strategy of securing Native lands through treaties in exchange for annual payments (annuities), creating financial dependency.

Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa (1805–1813):

Shawnee brothers who built a Pan-Indian cultural and military confederacy to block U.S. expansion into the Northwest Territory.

Red Sticks / Red Stick War (1813–1814):

Traditionalist Creek faction that launched a civil war against assimilationist Creeks and fought U.S. forces before being defeated by Andrew Jackson.

Louisiana Purchase (1803):

U.S. purchased vast territory west of the Mississippi from France for $15 million, doubling the size of the nation.

War Hawks (1810–1812)

Young Southern and Western Democratic-Republican congressmen (like Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun) who aggressively pushed for war with Britain.

Impressment (1800s–1810s)

Practice by the British Royal Navy of forcibly seizing American sailors from commercial ships, driving conflict between the U.S. and Britain

War of 1812 (1812–1815):

Conflict between the U.S. and Great Britain over impressment, trade restrictions, and British support for Native resistance along the frontier.

Hartford Convention & Federalist Views of the War (1814–1815):

Secret meeting of New England Federalists protesting the War of 1812 and discussing constitutional amendments; their timing caused the party to be branded as traitorous, accelerating its collapse.

Nationalism & Era of Good Feelings (Post-1815):

Wave of patriotic unity following the War of 1812 and the collapse of the Federalist Party.

American System (Formulated post-1815, advanced in 1820s)

Economic plan championed by Henry Clay featuring internal improvements (infrastructure), protective tariffs, and a national bank.

Market Revolution & Transportation Revolution (1800s–1850s):

Overhaul of the U.S. economy driven by infrastructure investments, linking rural farmers and industrial cities to distant markets.

Technological Advancements (1790s–1850s)

Cotton Gin (Invented 1793): Eli Whitney’s machine that sped up seed removal, sparking the southern Cotton Boom and reinvigorating slavery.

Steamboats (Popularized 1807 by Robert Fulton): Transformed rivertransport and two-way commercial traffic.

Erie Canal (Completed 1825): 363-mile waterway linking the Hudson River to Lake Erie, revolutionizing trade between New York City and the Midwest.

Railroads (Expanding 1830s–1850s): Fast, year-round land transport connecting East and West.

Panics (Panic of 1819, Panic of 1837 (connected to bank war) ):

Recurrent boom-and-bust economic collapses highlighting the volatility of market integration and credit expansion.

Rise of the Business Corporation (1810s–1840s):

Legal shifts granting companies limited liability charters, allowing for massive capital accumulation.

Gradual Emancipation (Beginning 1780):

Northern states (starting with Pennsylvania in 1780) passed laws slowly phasing out slavery by freeing children born to enslaved mothers once they reached adulthood.

Industrial Revolution in America (1790s–1850s):

Transition from hand production to machine manufacturing, factory systems, and mass production.

Waltham-Lowell System and the "Mill Girls" (1820s–1840s):

Textile factory model employing young, unmarried farm women in New England supervised in company boardinghouses.

Wage Labor System and Wage Workers (1820s–1850s):

Shift toward paid hourly or daily labor, which sparked debate over whether "wage slavery" compromised worker independence.

Middle-Class Culture & Idea of Separate Spheres (1820s–1850s):

Nineteenth-century ideology dividing life into a public sphere of work/politics for men and a private home sphere of morality/nurture for women.

Changes in Women’s Work (1820s–1850s):

Shift of manufacturing out of the home into factories, redefining female domestic work around household management and child-rearing.

Nativism Movement & American Party / "Know-Nothings" (1840s–1850s):

anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic political movement formed in response to surging European immigration.

German Immigration (Peak 1840s–1850s)

Migration driven by political instability and economic hardship; German families often moved to Midwestern farms and small businesses.

Irish Immigration (Peak 1845–1855):

Mass migration triggered by the Great Famine; Irish immigrants settled heavily in northern cities, facing poverty and anti-Catholic discrimination.

Trade Unions & Ten-Hour Movement (1830s–1840s):

Early labor organizing by skilled craftspeople demanding better working conditions and a standardized 10-hour workday

Missouri Crisis and Compromise of 1820

Congressional debate over the expansion of slavery; admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, establishing the 36°30′ line as the boundary for slavery in the Louisiana Territory.

Andrew Jackson’s Career Prior to Presidency (1810s–1820s):

Rise to national fame as a war hero in the War of 1812 (Battle of New Orleans, 1815) and the First Seminole War (1817–1818).

Election of 1828:

Bitter presidential contest in which Andrew Jackson defeated John Quincy Adams, ushering in the era of mass democracy and popular campaign rallies.

Race and Voting Rights (1820s):

Expansion of universal white male suffrage alongside the explicit disenfranchisement of free Black men in many state constitutions.

Andrew Jackson’s Presidency (1829–1837):

Defined by expansion of executive power, opposition to elites, aggressive Native removal, and party patronage ("spoils system").

Democratic Party (Formed late 1820s):

Party built by Jackson and Martin Van Buren; favored states' rights, territorial expansion, agrarian interests, and limited federal power.

Tariff of 1828 ("Tariff of Abominations"):

High protective tariff passed by Congress that enraged Southern planters who felt it favored Northern manufacturing at their expense.

Peggy Eaton Affair / "Petticoat Affair" (1829–1831):

Social controversy over the acceptance of Cabinet secretary John Eaton's wife; fragmented Jackson's Cabinet and pushed Vice President John C. Calhoun out of favor. showed that women held informal political power,

Nullification Crisis / Doctrine of Nullification (1832–1833):

South Carolina (led by Calhoun) claimed states could nullify federal laws (like the 1828 tariff); Jackson responded with threats of military force, driving a compromise tariff.

indian Removal Act (1830):

Federal law signed by Jackson authorizing the forcible relocation of Southeastern Native nations to territories west of the Mississippi River.

Cherokee Nation & Indian Removal (1830s):

Cherokees resisted removal legally (Worcester v. Georgia), but were ultimately forced west along the Trail of Tears (1838–1839).

Whig Party and Whig Coalition (Formed 1833–1834):

Political opposition party formed to counter "King Andrew"; advocated for federal infrastructure spending, economic modernization, and strong congressional authority.

Bank War (1832–1836)

Jackson’s political crusade to dismantle the Second Bank of the United States by vetoing its recharter and moving federal funds into local "pet banks." Jackson vetoed because of defense of the farmer/labors, foreging influence, constitutional objections

Panic of 1837:

Major financial crash and prolonged depression caused by speculative land buying, Jackson’s Specie Circular, and the destruction of the National Bank. rise of pet banks/inflation

Election of 1840:

Log Cabin Campaign" where Whig candidate William Henry Harrison used popular campaign tactics to defeat Democrat Martin Van Buren.

cherokee nation

• Despite meeting every U.S. standard of "civilization," Georgia and President Andrew Jackson still pushed for removal after gold was discovered (1829)—proving removal was driven by racism and greed for land rather than cultural differences.

• Supreme Court Battles: v. Georgia (1831): Ruled Native tribes were "domestic dependent nations" (wards of the federal government), not foreign nations